IPMAN urges FG to tighten security around petroleum pipelines

Following the pipeline explosion at Abule Egba, Lagos which claimed lives and property yesterday, the Chairman of Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), Ejigbo Satellite Depot, Alhaji Ayo Alanamu, has urged the Federal Government to provide adequate protection of pipelines in the country through a reshuffle of surveillance security personnel monitoring the pipelines as most of them had compromised.

In a statement on Thursday, the IPMAN boss said that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) should also join the government in the protection exercise in other to track down the vandals with the provision of monitoring gadgets which would alert security agencies whenever pipelines were being vandalised.

“The use of security personnel to conduct surveillance on the pipelines could not be adequate because of the magnitude of the network.

“The size of the network and the inadequate security coverage give the hoodlums opportunity to vandalise the pipelines.

“We appeal to NNPC and security agencies to redouble their effort in protecting pipelines because residents within the locality can no longer sleep with their two eyes closed.

“We are imploring the government to help us to get rid of these people because their activities can cause a lot of damage to the entire community,” he said.